By necessity due its vulnerable location in the Dutch delta, Rotterdam has become a true global leader in climate change adaptation. It is now one of the safest delta cities in the world and leads the way globally in the areas of innovation, sustainability and adaptation to climate change. The city actively invests in the development and application of innovative solutions, making the Rotterdam region a large living lab and real life testing ground. Rotterdam’s Adaptation Strategy is setting an example across the world and each year 80 foreign delegations visit to the city to learn about its approach. Rotterdam actively shares its knowledge with the world and cities like Copenhagen, New Orleans and Ho Chi Minh City all based their adaptation plans on the Rotterdam approach. Rotterdam is the initiator of the Connecting Delta Cities network, the first global climate adaptation network of delta cities, to share and exchange expertise and best practices on integrated water management and climate. Rotterdam also initiated the Deltas In Times of Climate Change congress and was the host city for the 2010 and 2014 editions. International organisations including the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) and the United Nations acknowledge the leading position of Rotterdam and have asked the city to actively share its expertise and play a key role. In 2015, during the UN climate conference COP21 in Paris, Rotterdam was awarded the C40 Adaptation Award for the best adaptation strategy. In 2016, Rotterdam was the host city for the C40 Adaptation Futures Conference, that was attended by 1,700 experts and representatives from governments, knowledge institutions and companies from more than 100 countries. In 2017, Rotterdam is the only city in the world to be asked to take on a key role in the establishment of the Global Centre of Excellence on Climate Adaptation, led by The Netherlands, Japan and UN Environment. Recently, the C40 network asked Rotterdam to set up the world’s first Climate Adaptation Academy to provide more than 60 megacities with training programmes and technical support in climate change adaptation and building resilience. Moreover, renowned delta technology knowledge institutions are located in the Rotterdam region, such Deltares, UNESCO-IHE and Delft University of Technology.

In Rotterdam nearly 50% of the hotel rooms in the city centre ascribe to the Green Key policies that are the standard for sustainability in the Netherlands. Rotterdam as a congress city is green by way of it's compact nature, with most hotels within walking distance or a quick ride by public transport of the main conference centers. All three of the main conference venues considered in the city centre are either Green Key certified, or have established a sustainability policy in line with this and the national environmental legislation.

Rotterdam continues to draw attention in the international press with regard to sustainability. The New York Times paid special attention to the city's resilience sstrategy in a recent article entitled, "The Dutch Have Solutions to Rising Seas. The World Is Watching." Fastco Design also featured Rotterdam as a leader in sustainable urban design. Rotterdam is also a happy city, an environment in which it's citizens can thrive. With the Netherlands rated as 7th in 2015 on the World Happiness Report, and the EU Report on Quality of Life in 2015 showed that around 93% of respondents were satisfied with public spaces and transport, and ranked best among all Dutch cities, and in the top 15 of all European cities. The latest Arcadis Sustianable Cities Index placed Rotterdam in 2nd place on the People sub-index due to broad success including high literacy and a good work-life balance.